Bulgarian black metal master of atmosphere Morth, who have been active since 2002 but only record his first full length record last year, brings ‘Towards the Endless Path’ to the table, out now on Symbol of Domination.
Stretching over an hour, ‘Towards the Endless Path’ is a haunting, hypnotic record of ghostly black metal, built around the lessons of Drudkh or Wolves in the Throne Room. Morth is more raw than that, more primal, and there is a distinct icy coldness about tracks like ‘Cold Moonlight Mysticism’ and the harsh ‘Dark Dawn Rise’. Each songs builds the cloying, murky atmosphere, and the snarling growl gargles with the sodden blood of Morth’s victims.
‘Towards the Endless Path’ is a fine album, with plenty of variety in there to help hold your attention. ‘Echoes of Ancient Winds’ is a vast piece, with a simple yet ear worming melody in the middle that stays with you. Atmospheric black metal can be hit or miss with me sometimes, but Morth hit the spot. Maybe it’s my mood today, but this kind of spacious, haunting music is perfect. It just needs a little trimming length wise, but that’s a nitpick of mine with a lot of these style of records.
It’s a little long for such a simplistic, atmospheric black metal album, but those who stick it out to the end will be rewarded with a gloomy slab of primal black metal, replete with interesting bleak melodies hiding in amongst each crevice of blackness. Conjuring images of Carpathian forests decked in snow and darkness, Morth’s debut has been a long time coming, and yet it feels like a triumph.
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The Killchain 